The Curious Kid
by TaecMin
Summary: You never know what can happen on the Enterprise. Jim/Bones
1. Chapter 1

**San Francisco 0600:**

"Boooooooones!" Jim called out as he entered their shared apartment. He just got back from Starfleet headquarters where he and the admirals discussed the contents of his next five year mission. Two weeks ago the _Enterprise_ crewmembers finished up their first five year mission and were granted a couple weeks off for shore leave.

Jim glanced around their apartment and frowned when he didn't see Bones anywhere. He remembered the day their shuttle landed back in San Francisco, McCoy fumbled with his seatbelt before sprinting for his dear life out of the shuttle and nearly kissed the ground. Jim smirked at the memory before he heard something crash in the bathroom followed by a frustrated "Dammit."

He strode over to the bathroom and pushed the door open, "Honey, I'm home!" He said while grinning ear to ear.

McCoy yelped in surprise, "Dammit Jim, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Relax Bones, it's just me," Jim tried to surprises a chuckle, "What are you doing anyways?"

"Inventory," he murmured, "Gotta make sure we're not missing anything."

Jim took a minute to stare at Bones before taking a step forward at hugging his back and looked at Bones through the reflection of the bathroom mirror.

McCoy, out of reflex and surprise, stiffened before noticeably relaxing into the touch.

"I think we'll survive just fine without a tooth brush for a while. Besides we can always replicate something if we need it or stop by a nearby Star base."

McCoy cocks and eyebrow at the mirror looking at Jim, "Fine, but don't expect me to kiss you for a while if you forget your damn toothbrush."

"Dully noted," he said as he spins McCoy around and devours him with a kiss. As they break apart for air, Jim hooks his arm around McCoy's hips and guides them out of the bathroom and into the living room where there are two large gray duffle bags stacked next to the couch.

"The _Enterprise _isn't scheduled to warp off until 0830, so we should probably head over to the ship yard soon."

"Nine years."

"Hmm?"

"It's been nine years since we both joined Starfleet. It's almost hard to believe that we survived that long."

Jim's eyes softened as he thought back to the beginning and the adventures of their journey. The _Enterprise_ is a great ship with an amazing crew. Together they have been through so much, whether it was boring delegation work, or escort duty, exploring strange new planets, or almost getting themselves killed while accomplishing the impossible.

Over the years the loosely tied bonds slowly started to close tightly together. They were no longer just crewmembers, ensigns, or officers, but family. They functioned as one and watched each other's back. They respected one another and furthermore had high regard for their Captain.

Over the years some crewmembers even started to get closer than just a friend, which also includes the Captain and his CMO. It happened during their third year of their five year mission when they were ordered to visit an uncharted class M planet. There were reports from a Starfleet outpost saying that there have been several signals that were being transferred through the radio communications system.

Following the usual procedure, the captain, first officer, and three security guards beamed down. Upon their arrival they were hit strongly with a terrible stench. The smell of dead bodies, though none of them were thankfully human. But still, the sight of adults, children, and infants littered the grounds of the little demolished village was jolting.

Just as Spock was pulling out his communicator to call for a beam up there was open fire. Hidden behind the huts was a different type of species then the ones that were lying unmoving on the ground. They had weapons that shot out similarly as phasers but the model were different, almost looked like it was made out of wood.

As the _Enterprise_ crew members ran to find shelter a couple of shots hit the captain, but before he could fall over his first officer picked him up and ran with him over his shoulder.

They found shelter behind a large rock and Spock carefully laid the unconscious captain down before taking out his communicator.

"Spock to transporter room."

"Aye this is Scotty here."

"Five to beam up and have medical on standby, the captain was shot and is in need of medical treatment."

"Copy that, medical is on their way. Stand still we are locking on your location."

Soon the recognizable gold swirls began to consume them and the familiar sensation washed over them as they re- materialized in the transporter room."

Upon their arrival McCoy rushed through the door towards their unconscious captain while being closely trailed by a staff of nurses and a gurney.

Spock moved aside from the captain in order to give the CMO some room to give Jim a once over.

"What in hell happened down there?" He growled and reached into his medkit to pull out several hypos and stabbed them into Jim's neck.

Spock stood still staring at the flurry of activity happening, "The village we initially beamed down to was raided by another species of the planet. They were hiding and opened fire before we were able to contact the ship for a beam up. In the process of finding cover the captain was hit and collapsed."

McCoy pulled out his tricorder and scanned the wound on Jim's shoulder, stomach and chest. When the machine beeped he glanced at the screen and cursed, "Dammit, I need help over here. Why are you standing at the door? I needed the captain on the gurney and in my sickbay thirty minutes ago!"

McCoy pulled out his comm as the nurses were carefully loading the captain in the gurney and called for M'benga to prepare Op. room 3.

Five hours later the Captain was out of surgery and was in induced coma until the wound healed itself a bit more.

It so happened that the natives in that planet created a type of phaser that shoots in thin shards of metal when it comes in contact with an object or person.

After six days McCoy stopped putting the captain into the induced coma.

Even so a couple of days passed and he was yet to wake up. McCoy knew he was going to wake up soon, but his mind always had doubts. He ended up spending most of his free time by Jim's bed holding his hand and willing him to wake up. When he was off shift he fell asleep in the chair next to Jim's bed, knowing he was going to awake to an achy back and neck.

On the twelfth day McCoy reflected back into the day when they first met on the shuttle in Iowa and thought that Jim was some sort of juvenile idiot, but for some reason he didn't back away from McCoy's grumbles and grouchy attitude, but instead joined him and laughed together. Throughout their academy years Jim continued to get into several bar fights and always barged into McCoy's room afterwards.

They were both in the top of their graduating class and came to rely on each other without quite knowing it. They both keep each other on track and cared for one another.

If it wasn't for Jim, Bones would probably be crammed up in some sort of research facility located in one of Starfleet's base on Earth. The only reason Bones is on this flying deathtrap in the first place is because Jim literally walked up to him on the day we was promoted to captain and said to McCoy that he needed him.

To Bones, Jim was like his blanket, because he was warm and protective that way.

So when seeing Jim on the biobed unmoving he gets a sense of dread and an empty feeling somewhere in his heart.. It made him realize that he would be lonely without his other joyful half.

McCoy turns his head to look at the bio-reading sensors seeing them unchanged he grabbed Jim's hand.

"God dammit man wake up! Please," his eyes started to water, "I need you to wake up. Just open your eyes for me. Come on I know you can do it you stubborn idiot."

A single tear poured out, "Please Jim, please wake up already."

Still nothing happened as a couple minutes passed.

"I love you dammit," he said while wiping his eyes with his blue sleeve. He was preparing to leave the room to resume his shift when a hand tightened around his.

"Lov yu too bnes."

Taken back McCoy looked down to see those beautiful blue eyes smiling up at him and his hand squeezing a bit tighter before it went slack and his eyes closed again too soon.

**Enterprise 0830:**

The turbo lift opened revealing its Captain dressed in the command gold uniform.

"Keptin on ze bridge."

Jim glances around the room and spots all of his senior officers in their respected locations. He smiled to everyone and nods at Bones who is standing beside the conn.

He swiftly makes his way to his seat and presses a button connecting him to the speakers around the ship.

"Attention this is you captain speaking. I hope you all had a great shore leave during the past couple of weeks. As you were informed we will be taking on our second five-year mission and as your captain I will do everything in my ability to do what is best for the crew and our mission."

After the announcement he releases that button and connects himself to another channel.

"Scotty, how's the engine looking?"

"Purring like a kitten captain, she's ready for another long journey."

Leaning back into his chair he smiles and looks up at Bones who is glaring at the view screen and basically space itself. '_darkness and disease' _he swears he hears Bones muttering under his breath.

"Come on Bones, it's gonna be fun!" He gives McCoy a little playful slap on the shoulder.

"Mister Sulu, Take us out."

"Aye Sir!"

**Enterprise 1135:**

The bridge is currently peaceful and quiet with a few chatters going off every now and then. They are traveling at warp factor 1 in no specific direction and gaze at the stars whizzing right past them appearing as streaks of light.

Bones went down to sickbay to do some more inventories and to train in a couple new nurses and doctors.

Jim got up from his chair to stretch his back and limbs and strode around the bridge to see how everyone was doing.

Just when he was about to start a friendly banter with Spock, Chekov's voice rang in the silent air.

"Keptin, we have an unauthorized person in cargo bay."

"Pull up security footage on the view screen," he said making his way over to the center of the room.

Moments later a live feed appears in front of them. At first it looks, well, normal. But then a little movement in the background catches their focus.

Squinting at the screen Jim asks Chekov to close up into the shuttle.

The image is a bit grainy and dark until a head pops up behind a pile of duffle bags and other cargo.

Blinking several times Jim then asks, "Is that… Is that what I think it is?"

Spock, who was standing right next to his right shoulder responds back, "If you are referring to the movement in the shuttle then you should be correct in assuming that it is indeed a young child."

The captain groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose while striding across the room towards the turbo life, "Mr. Spock you have the conn. I'll be back; I'm just going to see our little _deadly_ intruder," He said over exaggerating the word.

**Cargo Bay: **

When Jim reached cargo bay he entered in the code and the doors slid open. The lights were dimmed down to 5% to save energy and nothing was easily visible.

"Lights to 90%"

As the lights got brighter he noticed a blur movement on his left and a gasp of surprise. It was still surprising as to how a kid got on the starship so easily.

"Hey kid, come on out."

Nothing. '_Sign' _

'_Fine, hide-and-seek it is.' _Jim thought to himself.

With stealth he walked in the direction of the blur movement earlier. When he turned a corner and peeked through the side of some storage boxes he spots a dark navy blue cotton material poking out of an empty box.

He grins to himself as he makes his way to the box and pauses for a moment before yelling, "Caught you!" Jim then quickly lifts the struggling boy in his arms as he screams out in surprise.

Jim winces and turns his head away from the sound, "Man kid you're loud."

"Lemmy go!" The boy says in frustration.

Jim recognizes that the boy has an accent similar to bones, perhaps he was from Georgia to or something. But then how did he get to San Francisco in the first place.

Frowning, Jim turns his head back towards that kid and observes that he was is a lot younger then he somehow imagined him to be.

"How old are you kid?" He asks ignoring the boy's previous request.

"Why's it matter to you?" The kid glares are him that would probably work in another ten or so years.

"Because I'm the captain and I order you to tell me," Jim says in a matterly fact attitude.

The kid then gasps and stares at him wide-eyed. His eyes looked to be one of the darkest and boldest shades of blue and yet so strikingly similar to his own. He had dark hazel colored hair and his skin was on the tanner side of pale. He was definitely young if those pouty cheeks and lips were any indication.

That itself made Jim smirk to himself, "Well? I'm waited."

The kid mumbled something, but it was too quiet and mushed for Jim to decipher.

"I'm sorry I couldn't hear you clearly, did you say five?" He said clearly wanting to have some fun here.

This earned Jim another glare, "Eight dammit! I said I was EIGHT!"

By now Jim was staring to think that 'dammit' was a customary word of some sort from where this kid is from, because apparently young innocent looking eight year olds knew how to use it.

"Ok, now what's your name?"

At this question the kids face visibly turned into an incredible shade of pink verging on red. Poor kid must have an embarrassing name. Maybe something Barnardo or Finnegan.

"Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself first?" The kid shot back.

Jim's eyebrows shot up. He almost forgot that he hasn't yet told the kid his own name, but then again he assumed everyone on board knew who he was; after all he is the captain.

"The names Kirk, Jim Kirk."

After a bit of hesitation the boy replied back, "Just call me Ty."

"Good enough! Alright Ty let's get ourselves to a safer location, shall we."

"Fine, but put me down first," he demanded.

"I will in one condition."

Ty narrowed his eyes, but nods.

"You will not run off or stray too far away from me. Besides it pointless because we have cameras and security everywhere and I'll be able to find you again just as fast and easily."

"I got it already. Jeeez, now please put me down."

Jim was happy to see that Ty did not attempt to run away after he set him down and instead cocked his head to the side in curiosity. Compared to Jim, Ty looked like a midget standing at about 4'8ish. His hair was about two inches long on the top and half an inch on the side. He was wearing a navy color shirt that sported several wrinkles, light wash jeans with mud stain on the knees, and a pair of worn out sneakers.

The question that popped into his head was what he was supposed to do with the kid?

They were already several hours away from Earth and the nearest Starfleet base is at least a week away. He would have to set up a meeting with the senior officers and get to know the Ty a bit more before making a decision.

Jim takes a look at a nearby chronometer 1159. Bones should be going on break soon for lunch.

Deciding that there was nothing left to do about the situation until they held that meeting he shrugged to himself and smiled down at Ty, "How about we head over to the mess and grab a bit to eat?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Mess Hall 1210:**

The mess was a bit crowded then usual mainly because it was everyone's first day back aboard and they wanted socializes with their friends.

Jim guided Ty near the replicators and got his usual first which was a cheeseburger, fries, an apple, and a mug of coffee before asking Ty what he wanted.

"So what are you feeling today?"

Ty looked up from the replicator to look at Jim, "may I have some chicken nuggets?"

"One order of chicken nuggets coming right up," he said while punching in the right code, "anything else? What do you want to drink?"

After scrunching his eyebrows together and taking a moment to think he asked, "Do you have applesauce and milk?"

"Of course we have applesauce and milk! This is the USS _Enterprise_ after all, which is clearly the best starship out here."

Jim managed to set everything down on one single tray and was about to go off and search for Bones before his communicator went off.

"Kirk here."

"Captain, I assume it is safe to say that you have taken care of the problem from earlier?"

"Uh yeah, about the Spock can you set up a meeting in my ready room for all senior officers at 0230 today?"

A brief moment of silence, "It has been done. Anything else captain?"

"Nah that should be it for now. I'll see you later this afternoon, Kirk out."

'_Already then, time to look for Bones_.' Jim lifted the tray and started to walk around the mess while keeping an eye on Ty.

It was a bit of a challenge to find Bones, but he managed to come across a familiar grumble while passing through a group of tables. And sure enough, as he turned his head he discovered his handsome husband scowling at the PADD in his hands while stabbing a piece of carrot with his fork and shoving it into his mouth mindlessly.

Bones lifted his head up when he felt the table shift and saw a tray being put on the table. Upon seeing two different plates of food and two different cups of drinks on one tray, Bones lifts and eyebrow and stares at Jim in confusion?

"Did you not eat breakfast this morning before your meeting with the brass?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, this isn't all mine," He motions towards Ty who is standing behind him shyly.

Bones blinks several times before meeting Jim's eyes expectantly. In all honesty Jim didn't really know what to tell him. That a boy just so happened to sneak into one of the world's top heavy cruiser starship without being detected.

"I know what you are probably thinking and I can reassure you by answering no. This is not what it looks like."

Bones eye brows seemed to rise higher than were it previously was, "Mhmm, so you didn't kidnap this kid Jim?"

"What? No way, where's the fun in that?" Jim sat down across from Bones and patted at the spot right next to his for Ty to sit at, "Anyways, we have a meeting at 0230 regarding this situation later today. You should have received a message about it from Spock, but in the meantime Bones this is Ty, Ty this is Dr. Leonard McCoy."

Ty stares at McCoy motionless, "You're a doctor?"

"I am."

Slowly, Ty scoots over closer to Jim causing him to suppress a chuckle, "I know how you feel kid. They can be evil at times."

Ty doesn't take his eyes off McCoy and nods.

Bones turns to glare at Jim before looking at the young boy, "So Ty, what's a young kid like you doing on the _Enterprise _which is light-years away from your home?"

"I don't have a home," he says quietly staring at the table.

"Did you run away then?"

Ty shook his head.

"Don't you have a family? They must be worried about you?"

At that Ty looks up to Bones and said excitingly, "I have a sister."

There's a surprise look on Bones and Jim's face, "Oh really? Where is she?"

Ty frowns and looks a bit sad, "She's at her home with her mommy and daddy."

"Then why aren't you home with them?" Jim asks while eating his fries that Bones is glaring daggers at.

"Because they're not my mommy or daddy."

Putting the pieces together Jim nods and turns towards Ty, "So you and your sister are connected by bond, not by blood?"

Ty nods and swings his legs back and forth on the chair, "She's the best sister ever!"

Jim laughed, "I sure don't doubt it if your that enthusiastic. Does she have a name?"

Narrowing his eyes in suspicion Ty stares at Bones then to Jim until Jim raises his hands in surrender and says, "Hey, don't worry we're the good guys here, this is all just harmless curiosity."

Both Bones and Jim can clearly see that Ty is very protective of his sister since he has yet to mention her name or where she is from, nonetheless where he is from or his full name.

Ty scrunched his eye brows together and thinks from a moment before nodding to himself and looking back up.

"I'll tell you her name _if_ you pinky swear to never tell anyone else," he said as threateningly an eight year old could manage.

Jim agreed seriously while Bones managed not to roll his eyes. Ty then motioned for them both to lean in closer to the center of the table in a huddle-like formation before whispering, "Her name is Joanna," And then sits back down to grabs a chicken nugget to munch on.

They were both still huddled at the center of the table watching Ty eat, and then stared at each other before Bones spoke up, "Well that was a bit intense for just a first name."

Jim shrugs "I suppose it's better than nothing."

McCoy takes a look at his PADD when it rings and sighs before standing up, "Breaks over, gotta go and make sure my sickbay is still in order, god knows what could happen. I'll see you later Jim an make sure you eat that entire apple."

Before McCoy was able to pass the table, Jim swiftly managed to hook his arm around Bones neck and kiss his cheek, "Don't work too hard," he says prior to releasing him.

Jim glanced across the room to see what time it was. They still had an hour and a half before the meeting would begin. For now they'll just finish up their lunch then maybe take a tour around the _Enterprise_ because who wouldn't enjoy that?

**15 Minutes Later…**

"And this right here is engineering which houses our beautiful core and life of our ship."

"Ya got that right laddie!" Montgomery Scott crawls out from the Jefferies tube covered partially in oil.

`"Hey Scotty! How's everything going down here?"

"In tip-top shape Captain," he said while motioning a wrench around the general area until he notices Keenser sitting on top an energy box.

"Get down from there!"

But Keenser just shakes his head and lays back to take a nap.

"Oh for god's sake," He sighs looking back at the captain and sees a young boy standing next to him, "And who's this young laddie?"

Jim looks back and nudged Ty forward to introduce himself, "Hello sir I'm Ty."

Scott huffed in surprise, "Huh, would you look at that. I cannae believe they allow young children onboard."

"Actually, he's technically not supposed to be on the _Enterprise_ in the first place."

"…You mean he?"

"Yeah."

"Is that possible?"

"Well he's here isn't he?"

"You have got to be kidding me. You're seriously meaning to say that he snuck on board?"

"Yes somehow. Anyway you got the memo about the meeting at 0230, right?"

"You can bet you're a- I did"

"Good. We'll talk more about this there. In the meantime do you mind giving him the grand tour of engine?"

"Course lad."

Scotty then spent the next hour explaining each of the main machines, including the warp core to the boy. Surprisingly enough the boy seemed to be very curious as to how the ship functioned and asked many questions in which Scotty would rely back to in full detail. Jim wasn't sure if Ty understood everything that Scotty was talking about especially when he got technical with words or slang, but he seemed to understand the basics and give a nod every now and then.

As Scotty was pointing to objects with Ty walking nearby his side, Jim lagged behind several steps to think to himself. Never in his six years of captaining a ship have they had a child on board. Sure they did escorts every now-and-then but those were mainly with adults or elders. But then again this boy did say that he didn't have a family, except a sister of course. One thing is for sure though, he cannot abandon an eight year old child on some Starfleet approved planet, but then again they aren't going to be stopping by at Earth until their five year mission ends. Which is in five years.

Jim must admit that a starship is no place for a child to run around in safely, largely because they were going to be flying through unknown territories with possible Romulans, Klingons, etc. just waiting to raid them.

Jim snapped out of his trance when he heard a high pitch laugher echoing around the room. He turned to see Scotty sitting on his butt scowling at a piece of equipment lying on the ground that was supposedly not supposed to be there that might have tripped him and Ty holding his stomach while laughing uncontrollably.

"Ya stupid piece of pipe! How dare you attack me!" Scotty scowls at the PVC pipe with his wrench at hand.

"Yeah! How dare you attack him!" Ty joins in pointing at the unmoving object.

The scene unfolding in front of him cause Jim to chuckle.

Taking a look at the chrono again and seeing that it was 0215 Jim and Ty thanked Scotty for the tour before heading over to sickbay.

**Sickbay 0220:**

It was during one of those rare moments when sickbay was dead silent. When the turbo doors opened Jim strode out with Ty tight on his heels. Christine Chapel was sitting at the front desk looking over some paper works and smiled at Jim and looked startled at the boy, but nonetheless smiled to him as well. As they walked deeper into sickbay Jim felt Ty tightly grasp the back of his shirt with his tiny fists.

They came to a stop in front of the door the CMO's office. Jim quickly put in the captain override access code and opened the door.

"Booones! Ready to go?"

"God dammit man, don't you know how to knock first?" Bones says while typing something in his PADD ferociously.

"Nope, what does nah-kk even mean?" Jim smiles and feels Ty pushing against his back for protection from the evil doctor, "Oh and you might want to bring it down a notch, you're scaring our guest."

Bones looks up from his PADD unimpressed at Jim until he sees Ty staring back at him wide-eyed. Suddenly remembering about the earlier events he calmed down and turned his PADD off and walked closer to them, "Right, let's go then."

The entire walk from Sickbay to the Bridge was silent with Jim leading the group with Ty still holding tightly to his shirt with his dear life and constantly looked up to Bones.

As they entered the ready room they noticed everyone was already there. Chekov was sitting next to Sulu; Uhura was next to Spock, and Scotty. From the moment they entered the room the chatters ceased and everyone looked up to see their captain and CMO at the door.

After a few seconds of silence Jim cleared his throat and side stepped to his left revealing the little boy hiding behind him that wasn't able to keep up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, meet our little intruder from earlier, Ty."

"He's so young," Uhura said looking shocked.

"Yes, he is, and I quote, 'eight dammit,'" Ty's face turned into an increasingly dark shade of pink.

"Are you sure he's not just a long lost relative of Dr. McCoy's" Sulu asked with a smile.

"I'm not so sure about that," Jim said looking back down to his side where Ty managed to grab his shirt again.

The group then noticed the slight look of fear whenever he got too close to the doctor. McCoy had his arms crossed over his chest and grumbled a few words to himself as the boy looked up at him like a frightened animal.

"I do not understand, did something happen earlier today that caused this reaction?" Spock asked.

"Nah Spock, our little friend is just a bit scared of doctors, especially the handsome grumpy kinds," Jim said winking at McCoy.

"Zat is understandable! Zhey can be freighting at times."

"Chekov does have a point doctor, perhaps smiling a bit more could boost your popularity," Sulu agrees.

"Thanks for the advice, but no thanks."

"Does Ty have a family that we should contact?" Uhura asks the captain.

"No, according to him, he has no family, except for a sister though not by blood."

"Then how could he have survived so long by himself?"

"It is impossible for an infant nonetheless a toddler to take care of oneself. The possibility for survival is less the .1%."

'_huh' _well that was a good question. How could he have survived without a guardian for eight years?

"Hmm how did you manage so long without a parent Ty?" Jim asked.

Ty looked up to Jim and said, "My sister of course! She watched my back and I watched hers!"

"So your sister," Jim pinched the bridge of his nose, "took take of you 24/7 for eight years?"

"Course not."

"Huh?"

"We took care of each other for the past three years," he said holding up three fingers smiling.

"Then what about the first five years?"

Ty scrunched his eye brows in concentration and thought for an intense minute before a look of shock crossed his face, "I… I don't, don't remember," he whispered.

Jim snapped his head up and frowned, "What do you mean you don't remember?"

It would be understandable if Ty was fifteen or eighteen and couldn't remember his life at the age of 5 or younger, but Ty was eight which was only three years away from five.

Jim looked up to Bones and saw the same look of confusion in his eyes.

"Has someone tampered with the boy's memory?" Spock wondered.

"Well while it's common for adults to forget their childhood memory throughout the age of 3-6 a young child should have no problem recalling to a memory three years back. Their brains are practically like sponges and they retain memories for quite a while," McCoy says while frowning at the boy who has moved even closer to the captain.

"I want my sister," Ty mutters into Jim's shirt.

Jim moves his arm around the boys shoulder and looks up to his officers, "It's clear that we aren't going to be getting any further in this conversation today, so we'll resume it tomorrow morning at 0930," Jim then turns to face Spock, "You have the conn for the rest of the shift, I'll be back up in the bridge for beta."

"Understood captain."

"Good, see you guys later,"

Jim turned around to exit the room and motioned for Bones to follow. They then made their way to their quarters and punched in the code to the door. Once they were inside Jim directed Ty to the couch and played a cartoon on the holovid.

Jim and Bones then walked into their bedrooms to discuss the earlier conversation.

"What going on?"

"I don't know what to say to you darlin'. I'm just as clueless as you until I've examined him and do a full scan on his brain."

"Right, you should get to it."

"Yeah, but you're forgetting one major problem Jim."

"What's tha- … Oh right!" He snaps his finger and grins, "You scare him."

"Not intentionally idiot."

"Don't worry my lovable ball of cuteness Jim loves you very very much," he says hugging McCoy and burying his head into the crook of his neck inhaling. McCoy rolls his eyes but hugs back just as tight.

"We'll figure something out."

They walked back into the living room to see Ty asleep and all cuddled up in the corner of the couch. Jim went to turn off the holovid that was still playing and called for 5% light and Bones went back into their room and grabbed a spare blanket to drape over the tiny child. They both smiled at the child before going back into their bedroom to catch up on some sleep before their next shift started.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bridge 0300: **

It was calm and quiet throughout the _Enterprise_. It was in the middle of beta shift and most of the crewmen's were in their quarters getting some well-earned rest.

Alpha shift starts at 0600 and in the meantime Spock was on the conn along with Sulu and Chekov. So far it was all smooth sailing and, as usual, boring.

Spock was signing off some PADD's when there was a small 'blip' coming from Chekov's consol.

"Ensign Chekov, report." Spock commanded as he laid the PADD back down on the armrest of the chair.

Chekov was pressing various buttons on the control pad before turning around to face Spock.

"Sir, there is a wessel headed our way."

Raising an eyebrow, "Can you get an identification of the ship?"

"Nyet sir."

The ship was approaching them fast.

"Sir, their coming in fast. It appears that their shields are raised," Sulu says without turning away from his screen.

"_Fascinating_, how much longer until they arrive?"

"Not that long at all Sir. ETA one minute and twenty six seconds."

"Lieutenant I want shields at 85% and call for yellow alert."

"Aye, Sir."

Sulu keyed in a few codes to alert everyone's comms about their situation, then proceeded to put the shield up. When everything was set he turned around in his chair and gave Spock a short nod.

There was roughly twenty more seconds until they met head to head with the unknown vessel… fifteen… twelve, eleven, ten… five, four, three, two… one.

At first there was nothing, just them and the stars, and then there was a blur movement in front of them.

"Lieutenant, magnify the ship. Put it on the view screen."

The size of the ship was smaller than the _Enterprise_, yet equally dangerous.

"Orion pirates," Spock says amused while getting up from the chair.

"Sir, they are hailing us."

"Put it on the view screen."

A green Orion woman appeared on the screen as the screen connected the two ships. She has long wavy black hair, wearing bikini-like clothing that was decorated with jewelry and a piece of cloth tied loosely around her hips.

She was lazily seated in her chair with her legs crossed. There were also a couple of Orion males on either side of her.

"My, my, my, looks like we hit the jackpot. Who knew that a Federation ship would be so easy to find. Perhaps easy to destroy as well."

"This is Commander Spock of the U.S.S. _Enterprise_, to whom may I be speaking to?"

The Orion seemed to have frowned with disappointment, "Hmm just a Commander? Where is your Captain?"

"You are cruising in the Federations territory and therefore have no right to be here. You have three minutes to evacuate your ship away."

"You Vulcans never were much fun. How is it like not to feel?"

"Emotion is weakness."

"You poor boy. If you want I can teach you about teach you about feelings, especially pleasure."

"Twenty-five seconds remaining."

"Hey now don't be like that, I'm just trying to help."

"I assure you that your help is not needed nor welcomed."

"I don't believe you have a choice Commander. You see, I already won."

Just as Spock was about to ask for clarification, the turbo lift doors swish open with the Captain and CMO. Jim strode into the bridge, his face unreadable as he walked up next to Spock.

"Spock, report."

"Captain, a ship of Orion pirates have invaded Federation boarders and are unwilling to leave."

The Orion woman on the screen sat up closer towards the screen with interest.

"So this is your Captain. He is very beautiful for a human."

"Identify yourself."

"You may call me Te'lesh, I am as you would call the leader of this ship."

"You have no authorization to be here. What is your purpose?"

"I have come to make a deal."

"You should know that we are not obliged to help pirates."

"And as I already told your Commander, I don't believe you have much of a choice."

Seconds later the turbo lift doors opened back up. Walking out were four male Orion pirates armed with weapons pointing at various people on the bridge. In the center of the group was a frustrated and scared Uhura.

One of the Orion men shoved Uhura into the room.

Upon being released she went over to stand near Spock, who in return stood protectively over her.

"Are you alright?" He whispers to her.

"Yes, I'm fine, just got caught off guard," She whispers back.

An Orion solider from behind them snapped the bridge crew back in to attention, "_If none of you wish to be injured, you are to stay put while we take control of your beloved ship," _Uhura translated back to the crew.

The comm then ended.

The four guards motion for the crewmembers to huddle near the corner of the bridge and sit down.

**Captains Quarters 0345:**

There was a 'beep' coming from both Jim's and McCoy's comm warning them about the yellow alert.

McCoy groaned and silenced his comm. He nudged the still sleeping Captain a couple of times before getting a reaction.

" O'nes?"

"Time to get up darlin'. There's a yellow alert."

The last part snapped Jim out of his sleepy daze as he rubbed his eyes and grabbed for his comm.

The two men pushed the blankets off their bed and scrambled out of their beds, then changed into their uniform before rushing out of the door.

As they left the door they had a feeling that they were missing something, but they couldn't quite put their mind on it.

**Bridge 0400:**

It would appear that only a couple of crewmembers thought about bringing phasers with them during a yellow alert. They know that they should have been prepared for any possibilities, but having their ship being sabotaged was not in their mind at three in the morning. Which at the moment left them weaponless and at a disadvantage.

Each of the four Orion has their guns aimed at someone and eyeing for anything suspicious. Those four happened to be Jim, Spock, Chekov, and Sulu. They crew couldn't do much without possibly getting killed in the process, so Jim kept looking for an opening.

Everyone was huddled near the consoles' and Jim knew he has to warn the rest of his crew that there was a red alert. The button was at least five feet away from him. So close, yet so far away. Normally Orion's would be easy to take care of, but given their situation and the fact that the Orion's were pirates added an extra obstacle that they did not need.

It was a chance worth taking.

**Captain and CMO quarters 4:05:**

Ty awoke to the sound of the door closing. He was surprised to see that he fell asleep on the couch with a pillow under his head and a blanket tucked around him.

He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slipped off the couch and walked around the room. He hesitated for a moment before opening the door that led into Jim's and Bones room. The room was fairly clean with the exception of crumpled up blankets on the bed and on one side of the room there are random pieces of clothes on the floor. There was a phaser in the holster of a belt on the stand next to the bed.

He blinked a few times in confusion when he saw the time on the chrono that said it was 4:15 A.M. Ty spent a fair amount of time on a starship before and knew for a fact that the Alpha shift did not start at 4. At first he assumed that Captain and CMO just wanted to get a head start on their work, but that thought did not last long because he also knew that in space, anything could happen.

He always followed a saying that went a little something like this, "When in doubt, go with your gut."

Without hesitation he grabbed the phaser from the stand and tucked it under the waist band of his pants under his shirt on his back.

Just as he was about to make his way out of the door a problem occurred. The door was not opening. Ty pressed the emergency opener, but still nothing happened. Realization was coming in to his head and it was telling him that something was definitely not right.

Ty went back over to the couch and turned the PADD that was on the table on. Within a matter of minutes he breached the system and tapped furiously at a few buttons. Apparently someone damaged the ship wide transmissions and locked down all of the quarters. It took a while, but with some serious concentration and recalling he managed to reverse the damage.

Once that was all taken care of he put the PADD in his pocket and made his way out of the quarter. He started his journey over to the bridge because surly that's where the captain would be.

Ty didn't know where the bridge was located but had a pretty good guess or he'll at least wonder around until he found it. He was rounding a corner in the hall when he heard cursing coming from a nearby room.

When the doors swished open he saw the transporter pad and a livid Scott who was cursing at the panel.

"What's wrong Mr. Scott?"

Scotty jumped back in surprise and relaxed when he saw who the voice belonged to, "Ye shouldn't be here laddie. We got a yellow alert earlier, so I decided to check the engines to make sure everything is working properly, but then I get here and find out that someone decided to mess with the transporter functions."

"Why wasn't the entire ship warned about the alert?"

"We didn't want to rouse up the entire crew for something that could just end up being something small, so we just warn the senior officers and a few others," he said when inspecting the panels closely with a PADD in his hands.

'_No' _Ty thought. It was a trap. The senior officers would have to gather in a certain location for orders and that would be the perfect time for an ambush.

He turned back to Scott and asked, "Can you fix it?"

Scotty raised his brows and stared at Ty, "Of course I can fix this! I'm the chief engineer of this ship. I just need to locate the interference."

Ty stopped to think for a moment. The enemies couldn't have the time to hack into the system of an enemy ship. I had to be something that portable and powerful, "Try to look for bug attachment. Make sure no one else can come aboard."

Scott acknowledges the idea.

"Oh, and do you know where the bridge is located from here?"

" Aye, ye just walk straight and turn left and on the right is the turbo lift. Just take that all the way up and ye should arrive at the bridge."

"Thanks. Oh and Mr. Scott, raise red alert."

"Will do! And make sure ye get to safety laddie."


End file.
